Should have included a Topaz/Cindy showdown, but evidently nobody from either one of our teams decided to show up!

Cindy, this post is dedicated to you. Only against one of your teams would so much drama occur!!!

We went into the match defaulting dubs 3.

You guys defaulted singles 1 when your player never showed.

We won singles 2...you guys played a somewhat pregnant and miserable gal...she did NOT look happy to be there. And I was mentally reviewing my OB rotation...just in case she went into labor. (side note...as a captain, I would default a court before putting someone out there who is pregnant in the heat we had today).

We actually had a match at dubs 1...we lost by one game. To your teammate's credit, they did no stalling. However YOUR CAPTAIN called time early! As in, before the buzzer even went off. Eh hem. I'm not a fan.

Dub 2 - our team apparently decided not to come without telling us. However, I didn't see your team there either! Your captain (again, I'm not a fan), tells me after the match that they were there. Cindy, do you have invisible teammates? Because they sure as heck were NOT on the court for the 15 minute grace period. Which is where they are supposed to be! Should have been a double default, but your captain insisted we defaulted. Whateveh.

And, again, we had already defaulted dubs 3.

So, what should have been a Topaz vs. Cindy showdown was almost nearly a Topaz vs. Cindy's captain showdown!!!! Grrrrrrr!!!!!

And they even watered that clay right before the match...and it was still a dust bowl.

If I understood all that correctly... only 2 lines were actually played?

That's kinda pathetic. Why bother playing league tennis if the teams are going to combine for 3 defaults out of 5 lines. Over in my area I feel terrible on the very rare occassion where I have to default even one line, because I feel like I'm cheating someone on the other team out of a chance to play.

And isn't there a rule somewhere that says you need to have 3 out of 5 lines play in order for a match to count? (Evidently not, but I thought I read something along those lines somewhere.)

If I understood all that correctly... only 2 lines were actually played?

That's kinda pathetic. Why bother playing league tennis if the teams are going to combine for 3 defaults out of 5 lines. Over in my area I feel terrible on the very rare occassion where I have to default even one line, because I feel like I'm cheating someone on the other team out of a chance to play.

And isn't there a rule somewhere that says you need to have 3 out of 5 lines play in order for a match to count? (Evidently not, but I thought I read something along those lines somewhere.)

Well my understanding is that the only reason Cindy plays tennis is to have material to post on this forum. Playing is secondary, a game is defaulted every time some one sneezes and 2 games default if you break a string and 3 games if you scratch your behind. The less games to play in a set, the more fun it is. Even more fun if you don't show up for the match at all.

I am sorry that you are too ignorant to know these rules and are too much of a killjoy to show up at matches and ruin everyone's day.

Well my understanding is that the only reason Cindy plays tennis is to have material to post on this forum. Playing is secondary, a game is defaulted every time some one sneezes and 2 games default if you break a string and 3 games if you scratch your behind. The less games to play in a set, the more fun it is. Even more fun if you don't show up for the match at all.

I am sorry that you are too ignorant to know these rules and are too much of a killjoy to show up at matches and ruin everyone's day.

For those following along at home, I wasn't at this match. I had another match to play.

First of all, I do not know whether that singles player was pregnant. There are two ladies on the team with that name, and I have only met one. I didn't know this lady.

Regarding calling time early . . . isn't there a horn? If the match wasn't over, did you guys stop anyway?

OrangePower, this is the DC league, which is a bit odd in many ways. The flight winner is the team that wins the most individual matches. So if even one player shows up for a team, that player should try to play and win one court while the other four go as a default.

DC is also unusual in that players pay $75 for registration and nothing else for each match played. At the end of the season, teams that are out of playoff contention (like us) start having trouble with defaults. Hey, why show up on a hot day to play 90 minutes on the miserable dustbowl clay courts in DC when you can enjoy the air-conditioned comfort of a 2-hour match in a neighboring league.

As far as whether the Dubs Two players were actually there to claim the default . . . who was captaining the match for you? Before I write DF on my scorecard, I need to see some warm bodies there for the other team.

As for whether our team had two players available to play Dubs Two . . . no comment.

Was there really a pregnant lady playing? How far along was she?
I've been watching arrested development so I'm skeptical now after the fat suit episode w/ Liz Liar...

Anyway, I know some ladies who enjoyed hitting/rallying upto 32 weeks, but their balance/running wasn't the same so it was a cooperative hitting session... a competitive match doesn't seem to be a good idea.

Just for you, sureshs, I will tell you about the drama in the match I did play yesterday (different league, different team).

One opponent was a lady I didn't know at all. I have to say, I found her delightful. She was one of those people who clearly loves being on a tennis court. Her happiness was infectious, and I would be pleased to get to know her better.

OK. So we start playing, and my partner is serving a long deuce game. Partner hits a deep baseline shot. One opponent is at baseline, the nice lady is at net. The deep player has no play on the ball, so she kind of looks down at the ball as it whizzes by her near the line. She sticks a finger up.

Trouble is, the nice lady at net was also watching and she put her palms face down. Uh oh. They clearly made two conflicting calls. Our point, right?

I said to the nice lady, "It looks like you guys made different calls, so we should call it in, right?"

Nice lady says, "Oh, um. My partner was closer so it's her call to make. I didn't see it clearly enough to overrule her."

I said, "Yes, but you called the ball in and gave the appropriate gesture. You don't have to overrule, but you did make a call."

The reply was, "Well, I'm not overruling my partner, and she called it out. So it's out."

Ahem. There's nothing you can do in an unofficiated match, so why have a hissy fit? We just played. It was a nice match overall.

Still, there was one call my partner made later that looked a little dodgy. I didn't feel at all obligated to disagree or make a conflicting call. But hey, she was closer . . . . :huge eye roll:

For those following along at home, I wasn't at this match. I had another match to play.

First of all, I do not know whether that singles player was pregnant. There are two ladies on the team with that name, and I have only met one. I didn't know this lady.

She was. She had a cute baby bump, and she had 'the walk'. Kudos to her for coming and showing up though.

Quote:

Regarding calling time early . . . isn't there a horn? If the match wasn't over, did you guys stop anyway?

YES! There is a horn! Your captain called time *before* it went off. I yelled back at him that the buzzer hadn't gone off yet. But, since our opponents were up by one game, they disagreed. :-/

Quote:

OrangePower, this is the DC league, which is a bit odd in many ways. The flight winner is the team that wins the most individual matches. So if even one player shows up for a team, that player should try to play and win one court while the other four go as a default.

DC is also unusual in that players pay $75 for registration and nothing else for each match played. At the end of the season, teams that are out of playoff contention (like us) start having trouble with defaults. Hey, why show up on a hot day to play 90 minutes on the miserable dustbowl clay courts in DC when you can enjoy the air-conditioned comfort of a 2-hour match in a neighboring league.

Like someone else said...out of respect to your opponents.

Quote:

As far as whether the Dubs Two players were actually there to claim the default . . . who was captaining the match for you? Before I write DF on my scorecard, I need to see some warm bodies there for the other team.

As for whether our team had two players available to play Dubs Two . . . no comment.

Well, that's a good question. I was at work from 7-12. Match was at 1:30. Went I left work I had a text from our captain, asking me to captain. I replied saying yes, but she then replied saying she got someone else to do it. That person arrived right at 1:30 because she was stuck in traffic. So when it was time to exchange, I went up to the opposing captain, said I would give him the lineup but I didn't have any paper or pen. I said I would just write it on his sheet, but he didn't want me to see what he had on there.

So...yeah. Kinda fishy. He tore off a scrap for me to write down our lineup. I'm convinced he stole court 2 dubs. So he could win. Win what? Well, absolutely nothing!

It is not disrespectful to choose to play elsewhere, or choose not to play at all.

What is disrespectful is knowing you don't have enough players and not saying anything to opposing captain until lineup exchange.

It sounds like both captains were shorthanded but decided to keep mum.

Actually, no, we didn't keep mum. As soon as I found your captain (I had no clue who he was) I told him we were defaulting dubs 3. I don't know if our captain had contacted him prior or not, she usually does. We're second to last place, we have nothing to gain. We just wanted to play tennis.

To this moment, I still have no idea what happened to our #2 team. They are two players that are not known to be unreliable. I know one was at a practice in MOCO earlier that day for TH.

Your captain said absolutely nothing about singles 1 or dubs 2 not coming. I have no idea if they thought they were on their way or not...I was playing by then.

EDIT: though, it seems that nobody really lets people know ahead of time anymore. Memorial day weekend I got a default at #2 singles that wasn't revealed until the lineup was exchanged. We had people driving back from vacation for that match. I thought that was particularly bush league.

Was there really a pregnant lady playing? How far along was she?
I've been watching arrested development so I'm skeptical now after the fat suit episode w/ Liz Liar...

Anyway, I know some ladies who enjoyed hitting/rallying upto 32 weeks, but their balance/running wasn't the same so it was a cooperative hitting session... a competitive match doesn't seem to be a good idea.

Well, yes, she was.

I've known people who play pretty late too. But it was well into the 90s and humid out. I'm sure she could have said no, but she really didn't look like she wanted to be there at all. Our player felt badly, but it isn't her fault either.

Just for you, sureshs, I will tell you about the drama in the match I did play yesterday (different league, different team).

One opponent was a lady I didn't know at all. I have to say, I found her delightful. She was one of those people who clearly loves being on a tennis court. Her happiness was infectious, and I would be pleased to get to know her better.

OK. So we start playing, and my partner is serving a long deuce game. Partner hits a deep baseline shot. One opponent is at baseline, the nice lady is at net. The deep player has no play on the ball, so she kind of looks down at the ball as it whizzes by her near the line. She sticks a finger up.

Trouble is, the nice lady at net was also watching and she put her palms face down. Uh oh. They clearly made two conflicting calls. Our point, right?

I said to the nice lady, "It looks like you guys made different calls, so we should call it in, right?"

Nice lady says, "Oh, um. My partner was closer so it's her call to make. I didn't see it clearly enough to overrule her."

I said, "Yes, but you called the ball in and gave the appropriate gesture. You don't have to overrule, but you did make a call."

The reply was, "Well, I'm not overruling my partner, and she called it out. So it's out."

Ahem. There's nothing you can do in an unofficiated match, so why have a hissy fit? We just played. It was a nice match overall.

Still, there was one call my partner made later that looked a little dodgy. I didn't feel at all obligated to disagree or make a conflicting call. But hey, she was closer . . . . :huge eye roll:

Which brings up a question. When your partner is about to hit the ball, are you supposed to look at him/her briefly to get an idea of where the ball is going to go (which is why I assume the nice lady managed to see the ball behind her), or do you strictly look forward and focus on the opponents all the time? I think the pros don't look at their partners.

Actually, no, we didn't keep mum. As soon as I found your captain (I had no clue who he was) I told him we were defaulting dubs 3. I don't know if our captain had contacted him prior or not, she usually does. We're second to last place, we have nothing to gain. We just wanted to play tennis.

To this moment, I still have no idea what happened to our #2 team. They are two players that are not known to be unreliable. I know one was at a practice in MOCO earlier that day for TH.

Your captain said absolutely nothing about singles 1 or dubs 2 not coming. I have no idea if they thought they were on their way or not...I was playing by then.

EDIT: though, it seems that nobody really lets people know ahead of time anymore. Memorial day weekend I got a default at #2 singles that wasn't revealed until the lineup was exchanged. We had people driving back from vacation for that match. I thought that was particularly bush league.

I think the better way to handle it is just exchange a sheet with names in all positions (unless captains have already disclosed defaults). Some captains are unethical and try to claim a default to which they are not entitled or shift their lineup.

EDIT: though, it seems that nobody really lets people know ahead of time anymore. Memorial day weekend I got a default at #2 singles that wasn't revealed until the lineup was exchanged. We had people driving back from vacation for that match. I thought that was particularly bush league.

I always let opposing captains know ahead of time if I know I am going to have to default a line. It's the right thing to do, plus in my area all the captains know each other and tend to captain teams every year, and what goes around comes around...

Also, if I have a dubs player unexpectedly no-show, I will give the opposing captain the option of either taking the dubs default, or else I will offer to move one of my singles players to dubs in the place of the missing player, and default a singles line instead. That way only one of the other team's players gets to sit out rather than two (and everyone on my team gets to play).

Maybe bad captaining in the sense of pure competition, but my guys show up to play, and so do the opponents.

I always let opposing captains know ahead of time if I know I am going to have to default a line. It's the right thing to do, plus in my area all the captains know each other and tend to captain teams every year, and what goes around comes around...

Also, if I have a dubs player unexpectedly no-show, I will give the opposing captain the option of either taking the dubs default, or else I will offer to move one of my singles players to dubs in the place of the missing player, and default a singles line instead. That way only one of the other team's players gets to sit out rather than two (and everyone on my team gets to play).

Maybe bad captaining in the sense of pure competition, but my guys show up to play, and so do the opponents.

I co-captain in DC, and we have let people shuffle to let people play, and have also had people let us do the same. Because yes, at the end of the day, we are all there to play!

I will almost always tell opposing captain if I don't have enough players (hardly ever happens).

The exception is if I suspect the other captain may not have enough players. I base this assessment on the size of their roster and whether there are difficult circumstances that make it likely they will default a line also.

I remember one match where we knew we only had six players. This was because the match fell in the middle of spring break for public schools. I could have told opposing captain this, but I didn't know/trust her (and both teams were in playoff contention). As it turns out, they only had six players also but tried to pretend they had eight.

I can tell you there is no way I would ever take a default if I knew it really should be a double-default.